Soul Calibur: Darkness Across Time
by Sulfuric Requiem
Summary: What will one go through to obtain ultimate power? Follow this crossover of Soul Calibur, Full Metal Alchemist and God of War, when everyone is after the ultimate prize Soul Edge. Features the character Requiem Meiuqer
1. Chapter 1

_**Soul Calibur: Darkness Across Time**_

_**As written by Brian M. Fenderson**_

_**All characters are owned and copyrighted by their respected creators. "Requiem Meiuqer" character owned by Brian M. Fenderson.**_

Prologue

His body collided with the dank castle walls, his spirit nearly broken. Requiem Meiuqer crushed his now broken glasses in his right hand, and wiped blood from his bruised lip. Requiem's dark jacket now lay torn and stained with blood and dirt, his hair sprawled across his pale face. Requiem was out of breath, fighting in a strange place, in a strange time. Crawling into a small opening, his blade dragging along the concrete and sparking, he took refuge under a large spiral staircase that was clothed in dust and mold, as he tried to gather himself.

Peering around the large room of grey, he witnessed the being in which he tried so hard to defeat with no avail- a large knight with blue armor with piercing red eyes. His right arm was large and demonic, with three claws, sharp enough to sever flesh from even the strongest of bones. Perhaps the most disturbing thing he possessed was the blade that arm held; monstrous in size. It looked to be far too heavy for a single man to lift, but the strange knight carried it with such ease. It was much more powerful than anything Requiem had ever faced... it was truly...frightening. The blade also had a large yellow eye, which glanced around the area in search of the intruder, which was Requiem himself.

Requiem came in search of a strange weapon said to cause utter darkness and turmoil. Throughout his travels, he had heard such strange and horrific stories of a knight bearing a powerful sword, destroying everything in his path and leaving countless people dead or in famine. Throughout the history of time, the blade had obtained the name Soul Edge. It was said to have been held by a man named Siegfried, but it was rumored that he had overpowered the darkness of the sword. As of now, it belonged to the one in the azure armor, Nightmare. Requiem came to obtain this power for himself, wanting to use the power of Soul Edge to defeat his enemies, and other reasons that he wished not to name.

Nightmare's footsteps could be heard echoing through the halls of this strange castle. Darkness seemed to always lurk over this strange place of death. To Nightmare, Requiem was simply another person he had to assassinate for trespassing in his hideout. Ostrheinsburg Castle was once owned by a deranged king, obsessed with finding Soul Edge. He sent countless minions in search of the strange blade, hoping to use its powers to overtake any opponents and conquer nearby lands. One dreary day, a strange man bearing a large scythe brought him a pulsating fragment of the blade, which the king accepted. Since then, he assassinated countless people in his castle, until he was assassinated himself. Since then, none dared enter the dark castle, even though it had been abandoned for several hundred years, and its dankness and countless memories of bloodshed was the perfect sanctum for Nightmare.

"You wish to obtain Soul Edge from me? Come and obtain a piece first hand..." Nightmare's deep raspy voice churned, as he swung Soul Edge, slicing a bookshelf cleanly into two separate halves. Requiem could not help but gasp in awe of Nightmare's absolute power- and Nightmare had surely heard. Going up the winding staircase, Nightmare's footsteps caused dust to fall across Requiem's face. Fighting back sneezes, all grew quiet. Sweating and intrigued of Nightmare's whereabouts, Requiem peered from the left side. Before he could get his head from under the staircase, the sharp sound of steel caused him to lunge from under the staircase, as it crumbled into thousands of pieces. Nightmare's Soul Edge sliced through the stairs so easily... each step was nearly three feet thick. Holding to his Arch Angel blade tightly in his right hand, he used its long 1.4m edge to push himself from the moist floor. Lunging forward into the remains of the stairs, Requiem attempted to sever Nightmare's demonic arm. With a loud, metallic clang, Nightmare held Soul Edge diagonally, and with a thrust, pushed Requiem into the split bookcase, which was nearly 20 feet away. Pushing his head up with a struggle, Requiem looked to Nightmare, who mysteriously, was directly 7 inches from Requiem now. With a dark laugh, and a forceful left kick, Requiem was sent through the wall, into a room that was similar in look, but with a stained window directly on the ceiling, showing a scenario of an epic battle between two swords- Soul Edge, and a strange blue sword. Jumping up quickly, Requiem saw Nightmare stepping closer from the distance. Piercing his blade into the ground, Requiem tried a diversionary tactic.

"Plague of Hades..." Requiem muttered- and at that, dark plumes of smoke rose from the crack in the ground, enshrouding the entire area in absolute darkness.

"What the... damn you, human.." Nightmare retorted from the shadows. Stepping quietly with small clanks, Nightmare tried to search the area, but to no avail. He could not see, and Soul Edge pulsated with anger. Standing still and trying to sense Requiem's presence, a sharp pain in his right arm caused him to yell abruptly. Requiem was stalking Nightmare through the darkness, severing Nightmare's flesh. Yelling several curses, Nightmare swung Soul Edge through the darkness, hitting nothing. Nightmare could hear Requiem's laughter, echoing from off of the walls.

"Can't see, can you..." Requiem's deep voice announced. "Plague of Hades- quite an interesting technique. Causes a cloud of darkness to cover the entire field." he laughed. "And now, since you're helpless, I'll slice you into thin pieces and claim your blade..." Requiem's threats were short lived. With a grunt from Nightmare's armor, he swung the angry Soul Edge. Nothing was heard except the sound of blood hitting the ground with a splashing noise- Nightmare had severed into Requiem's chest. At that, the darkness dispersed- and Requiem was down on his left knee, holding his chest, which bled from the deep wound Soul Edge had left.

"How...how did you find me...?" Requiem questioned, his slate grey eyes wide with horror. Nightmare stepped over Requiem, his shadow causing Requiem to look up at the monstrous creature.

"If you're going to kill someone, do it. Do not talk about it before hand, especially if you're wrong..." Nightmare retorted. Angry with himself, Requiem lunged backwards, and leapt into the air, well above Nightmare, with Arch Angel in hand.

"You're not going to defeat me!" he yelled, and Nightmare took his Raven stance.

"Fool..." Nightmare said to himself. Jumping up as well, Soul Edge met with Arch Angel, and both Requiem and Nightmare landed on their feet. Requiem's sneer quickly turned to a facial expression of distress- his Arch Angel blade cracked- well _after_ Nightmare's counter. Staring at the silver colored blade with ancient Greek lettering engraved on it, chips of the blade began to fall to the ground- and within moments, the entire blade shattered into several multi-sized fragments. His eyes wide in awe, he thought to himself. _He...he didn't even attack... he guarded and destroyed my blade..._ Unable to complete his thought, the sharpness of Soul Edge met with Requiem's chest again, and swung him to the left. Quickly switching Soul Edge into his left hand, Nightmare grabbed hold of Requiem's face with his demonic arm, and threw him into the concrete with such a force, it cracked deeply.

"..." No noise came from Requiem's motionless body. He laid face down in silence- Nightmare had knocked him out cold. Laughing hysterically, he held Soul Edge over Requiem's neck. The large yellow eye within Soul Edge looked down upon Requiem's cold body with a sense of thirst- it wanted to feed upon Requiem's dark soul. Raising the dark blade even higher, Nightmare spoke silently.

"Now, you're a part of me..." he whispered, a sense of pride within his eyes. Releasing his raise of the blade, it swung down forcefully- but the sound of severing flesh did not occur. There was no blood curdling scream, no scent of death. Instead, there was the sound of steel clashing- and Nightmare spoke once again, as though confused.

"What is the meaning of this!" he yelled, and Requiem began to move, laughing slightly. The fragments of Requiem's Arch Angel blade hovered above the ground, forming a shield above Requiem, pushing back Soul Edge. Pushing himself from the ground, and holding his hand along the wound on his chest, Requiem spoke to the confused Nightmare.

"Guard of Athena... a protective technique. Sadly, it can only be used once a day. Luckily, I saved it just for the right time." he proclaimed. Running toward the window nearly 30 feet away, Requiem was stopped by Nightmare, who jumped in the way, Soul Edge in a new sheath. Requiem's eyes were wide as he felt warm blood rolling off of his pale lips- Nightmare had punctured Soul Edge completely through Requiem. Placing his weakened hands on the edge of the blade, he tried to pull it from his stomach, but he could not. The blade pulsated with power, as it stared into Requiem's dying eyes. The blood created such a contrast on the grey and mildewed stones that made up the floor, shimmering in the bleak amount of sunlight that shone in from the window. They were high up, in a towered room. Nightmare held the blade higher, and the blade slid deeper into Requiem's flesh. Releasing the scream that Nightmare was looking for, he realized that he was done. No need for overkill. Holding the blade out of the window, Nightmare gave Requiem a message-

"Never bother me again..."

And at that, he pushed Requiem from off of Soul Edge- and he fell nearly 72 stories- and hit the water in the moat around the castle with an echoing splash. The green colored water slowly turned to a murky burgundy- as Requiem sank to the bottom.


	2. Chapter 2

_Soul Calibur: Darkness Across Time _Chapter II

"Edward... your request has been denied" said a small man, his eyes cold and without emotion. At the end of a large conference table, a blond haired boy slammed his fist into the large Cherry Wood table, causing it to chip. The man sat motionless, his chin resting on folded hands. The teenage boy that sat at the opposite end of the table clenched his teeth tightly, as the metallic sound of gears grinding emitted from his arm and leg. Standing up and slamming both hands onto the table, his yellow eyes met with the dark colored eyes of the man at the other end.

"What do you mean, denied! Don't you understand, damn it! If we lose this lead, we could lose track of the remaining homunculi, Mustang!" the boy retorted. Sitting still, the man spoke again.

"Edward... sending you out of Central may not be good for you. Yes, the Furor is on the loose, and yes, you have your own personal grudges, but I cannot allow you to go off on your own! Not without backup.." Mustang said, interrupted by Edward's outburst.

"I don't need any backup! I'll go on my own! Al and I can..." Edward tried to continue, before being cut off and silenced by Mustang.

"Get obliterated by the remaining homunculi. Edward, if you lose your brother Al, what will you do? How will you return him to his normal body when he is DEAD, Edward!" Mustang snapped. Edward sat in the large oak chair in silence, his eyes looking towards the floor. Clutching his right arm, he felt the grooves of the bolts that held it together. Edward felt the rage of not being able to extract revenge coming over him. Standing slowly, he mumbled just loudly enough for Mustang to hear.

"I'm going... I have to do this." Stepping towards the large wooden doors, and placing his hand on the silver colored doorknob, he looked at Mustang once, and opened the large door with a creak. Placing his left foot out of the doorway, an echoing sound caused him to stop in his tracks. Turning slowly, he looked at Mustang- who stood with his right arm outstretched, his fingers in a snapping position. The blue jacket that Mustang wore stood in contrast to the velvet and blood red colored room, as he looked unnerving at Edward.

"You wouldn't..." Edward called. Mustang's face never changed.

"You don't think that I will? Edward... if you're going to go, you might as well be prepared for what's to come." With a snap of his gloved hand, a large explosion pushed the doors off of their hinges, and knocked Edward into the white painted walls outside of the room. Several other State Alchemists stood and stared in awe. Edward struggled to hold his head up, as he looked at Mustang, standing over him with his hand directly on Edward's forehead. Sweating, Edward looked up to Mustang.

"Please... I have to go..." he whispered. Mustang, usually cold, gave a warm smile.

"If you're going to go, go then." he smiled. As did Edward. Standing and running out of the main building, Edward ran to meet his brother Al.

Edward Elric used to be a State Alchemist who lived by the rules of Equivalent Exchange- 'To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost; thus is the law of Equivalent Exchange.'. But events that led up to now caused him to think and act differently- he left his State Alchemist position behind to follow his own destiny and settle he and his brother's business. Edward lost his left leg and right arm in horrifying experience- and his younger brother Al, lost his entire body, forced to have his soul encased within a large steel suit of armor. At a young age, Ed and Al's mother died of sickness- and being aspiring alchemists, they sought to resurrect her. To resurrect someone is forbidden- yet the boys tried. On a dark night, they drew their transmutation circle, and began the process. At first, all seemed to be well, but something went wrong- instead of their mother, a strange, deformed beast sat in a puddle in the middle of the circle, as his arm and leg, along with his brother's body, melted away. Thus is the law of Equivalent Exchange.

Standing outside of the train station, on his way home, Edward fumbled with a piece of paper in his pocket. It was nothing more than a game of tic-tac-toe that he and his brother had played a while back. Suddenly, a noise caused Edward to place his hands on the ground, and with a blue flash, a large spike of ground rushed behind large trees that stood in the distance.

"Who's there! Who's spying on me!" he yelled. No one answered... but in return, a large man bearing a strange looking scythe stepped from the shadows. The man looked to be of African American descent- with a piercing golden eye. His clothes were strange- a hood, similar to the grim reapers, but in a totally different color- a pale beige. Edward looked at the man with a mean glare.

"Are you Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist?" the cloaked man asked. Edward, reluctant to answer, chose to respond.

"And if I was? Who wants to know?" he responded. Smiling, the man shifted his bodily position to that of a fighting stance. His scythe shimmered in the setting sunlight, as the train rushed pass.

"I wanted to know..." he answered. Edward turned his head to the right, seeing the train roll by. Turning back towards the large man with the scythe, Edward quickly transmuted his auto mail arm into the form of a sword, in just enough time to defend against the large man's silent attack. The scraping sound of steel caused Edward to flinch, as he leapt backward and clapped his hands. Slamming his hands onto the ground, the steel from the railroad tracks began to twist and wind, and was sent coiling like a snake towards the man. Leaping with a twisting motion, the man landed on one knee, his scythe still in arms, as large chunks of steel landed on the ground. Going to clap again, Edward's motions were cut off by a hot stinging sensation across his face- the man was so swift- and made a large cut going down the right side of his face. Holding his face, Edward stepped back a few steps, as the man with the scythe stood slowly.

"What do you want..." Edward questioned. The man with the scythe gave himself a proper introduction.

"My name is Zasalamel... and I have come here for you, Edward. I have information on something that you have quested for..." he told. Edward was slightly untrusting, yet intrigued by the man's gestures.

"What is it that you know about?" Edward asked. The man's answer caused Edward's interests to peak.

"The Philosopher's Stone." Zasalamel responded. "You were in search of that item not too long ago, and it was rumored that your brother was turned into the stone. All I can say is, you were wrong... your brother is simply a small piece of Nightmare's energy."

"Who is Nightmare, and how do you know all of these things about my brother and I?" Edward questioned. Zasalamel continued on.

"Nightmare is the most powerful being in existence right now. I know all of these things because I am cursed to live forever- therefore, I learn all things through time." he said.

"What does this Nightmare person have to do with the Philosopher's Stone? We gave up looking for that a long time ago. It was made from the countless sacrifices of innocent human lives. Though it could be used for power, it was unstable. My brother and I vanquished it from existence." Edward commented.

"What you vanquished was nothing but a pseudo-edge." Zasalamel laughed. Edward was far from warm on his laughter.

"Pseudo-Edge?" Edward asked.

"Yes. A false piece of Soul Edge, the weapon beared by Nightmare." he said, the wind blowing his cloak into the western direction.

"Nightmare... the Azure Knight, Nightmare? I thought he was nothing more than a myth...there are small tidbits of information on him in the library in Central, but they are so old and outdated, I thought nothing of it. Strange deaths were reported in the thousands, but..." Edward proclaimed. Shaking his head, Zasalamel interrupted.

"Nightmare lives. And to be honest, he is weakened. Those books that you read in the library were the ones that I've written over time. Outdated, they are not. They are simply old predictions of the future that I've published. Over time, Nightmare's will power was weakened by his human side, and his Soul Edge was shattered into several fragments. Though he has restored many of them, several pieces still lay scattered across the land. Soul Edge has the power to destroy anything in it's path, and though the cause may be worthy, everything still ends in chaos and discord. What you've been searching for is actually a steel fragment of Soul Edge... meaning that Nightmare's weakened shard is..."

"The Philosopher's Stone..." Edward finished Zasalamel's sentence. "I have a question. If the fragments of Soul Edge are as powerful as they are, how much stronger is the completed Soul Edge?" Zasalamel could sense that Edward wanted to seek out Soul Edge's power, so he pulled him in deeper.

"Much more powerful than you could ever imagine, Edward. It could even...resurrect your mother..." Zasalamel whispered. Taking his hand out of a pocket, he revealed a small fragment of pulsating steel. A fragment of Soul Edge? Placing it on Edward's mechanical arm, the fragment melded with its steel components. The power surged through him, as his eyes pulsated red once, then back to yellow. Edward looked towards Zasalamel, lost in his Golden Eye. Forgetting about his brother, choosing to leave him behind to stay out of danger, Edward asked another question.

"Where do I have to go to find Soul Edge?"

Smiling, Zasalamel had accomplished his job.

"Allow me to fill you in..."


End file.
